New Delhi, Mar 24 (IANS): An unprecedented 60 per cent of Indians believe that the coronavirus threat is hyperbolized, even as the number of confirmed cases in the country surged past 400 on Monday.

This startling finding came out in the IANS CVoter-Gallup International Association Corona Tracker I, based on interviews of over 20,000 people, both men and women, in 22 countries around the world.

Asked their response to the statement: "I believe the threat from coronavirus is exaggerated", as much as 42 per cent of Indians strongly agreed with the statement, while 12 per cent just agreed with it. A net 35 per cent of people disagreed with the statement.

In contrast, net 29 percent of Italians, 62 per cent of Pakistanis, 17 per cent French and 26 per cent and 55 per cent of people from the UK and the US agreed with the statement.

A net 67 per cent and 79 per cent of Italians and French, respectively, disagreed with the above statement.

Over 15,000 people have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, globally. In India, the number of cases have surged past 400, while over seven people have died.